Do You Know the Six Types of Urinary Incontinence?

Urinary incontinence is an involuntary loss or leakage of urine. The type of incontinence a resident is experiencing can greatly impact the way that your facility addresses it. Keep in mind that a resident might suffer from several different types of incontinence at the same time.

There are six types of urinary incontinence: 

Functional incontinence is a loss of urine that occurs in residents who cannot remain continent because of external factors, such as the inability to get to the toilet in time. These residents have sufficiently intact urinary tract function.

Mixed incontinence is a combination of stress incontinence and urge incontinence.

Overflow incontinence occurs when the bladder has reached its maximum capacity and becomes distended. This type of incontinence is associated with the leakage of small amounts of urine.

Stress incontinence causes small amounts of urine leakage when intra-abdominal pressure on the bladder is increased (such as with sneezing, coughing, lifting, standing from a sitting position, climbing stairs, etc.). Stress incontinence is associated with malfunction of the urethral sphincter.

Transient incontinence refers to temporary episodes of incontinence that are reversible once the cause is identified and treated.

Urge incontinence, also referred to as overactive bladder, is caused by excessive contraction of the detrusor muscle in the bladder, which results in the strong urge to urinate even when the bladder is not full.